From ancient cave engravings, through the self-reflective notes of enlightened philosophers to the first travel journals from the 19th century, the need to express one’s thoughts in other ways than the spoken word has always been present in society.
Journaling is the act of writing down one’s experiences, thoughts, emotions, or feelings, on paper.
This method is known for bringing several mental health benefits. It’s also used in psychotherapy, in which it helps patients process emotions, cope with stress, and even serious problems such as problem gambling, alcohol consumption, or other types of dependencies.
Journaling has gained popularity on social media in recent years. Many influencers promote so-called “morning” or “evening pages” and even offer guided journaling videos on their YouTube channels. Just search for “journal prompts” on Pinterest and you’ll get the idea.
Whether you are a beginner or you already keep a journal, this article will help you navigate the never-ending options of this highly beneficial method.
Benefits of journaling
As we have already pointed out, journaling brings about several mental health benefits. This is because writing down what’s on your mind is similar to telling it to a friend. It brings clarity and allows for better organization of thoughts.
Processing emotions
Journal is a space where one can express their anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness freely, without criticism, or analysis. That’s why it is a great way to discharge emotionally. It’s recommended especially (but not only) to introverts, who tend to hold emotions back.
Reducing anxiety and depression symptoms
Anxiety is often triggered by obsessive thoughts. When these take over, bringing a pen and a piece of paper makes way for relief. Similarly, research shows that journaling decreases symptoms of depression, as it lets people look at things from a different point of view, as well as get to know themselves better.
Memory
Do you know why you were obliged to take notes at school? By writing, information from short-term memory moves to long-term memory. It was also shown to accelerate the process of connecting one idea to another.
Other than improving your cognitive abilities, journaling helps you keep track of your life, and record past events which you can come back to when you need it.
Apart from these benefits, studies show journaling:
- improves sleep,
- boosts creativity,
- reduces stress, and more.
How to get started: types of journaling
Now, if you’re a beginner, you might ask yourself, what do I need to start?
The answer is simple. Journaling is a low-budget activity – you’ll only need a physical notebook and a pen. Some prefer digital journaling, but since handwriting only increases the benefits, I recommend you stick to the traditional form.
Now, there are lots of types of journaling you can try out to see what suits you best. Reasons why people journal differ, and so do the techniques.
Reflective journaling
Reflective journaling is the type I have been focusing on so far, and the one most psychologists work with. It works like a diary, in which you reflect on your daily situations, feelings and thoughts. You just let your mind flow and write anything you need to release.
Bullet journaling
When Ryder Carroll studied at college in the late 90s, he felt the need to organize himself better. As an ADHD patient, he found it hard to focus, so he came up with something called bullet journaling.
This method is ideal if you want to improve your work or personal organization and increase productivity. To set it up, you’ll need a special dot grid notebook. You then organize it according to your needs, typically creating monthly, weekly, and daily logs.
There are hundreds of possibilities for your bullet journal, and I recommend you draw inspiration online.
Art journaling
Are you the creative type, or do you want to discover your artsy self? Either will work with art journaling, in which creativity has no borders. Bring markers, colored pencils, stickers, washi tapes, and express what you wish.
You might wonder where to start. Well, what about visualizing your future? Or you can start with something simple. Let your hand draw without thinking about the final product.
Thematic journaling
If you want to improve a specific life area, thematic journaling can help you achieve just that. From fitness to food journals, you’ll be able to track your gym progress and stay motivated, keep recipes in one place, etc.
These are just some categories, but your journal can look as you wish. You can even mix the types above, pouring your heart out on page 5 and then organizing your tasks on page 6. Remember – you don’t serve the journal, the journal serves you.
Popular prompts and templates
In general, you can approach journaling in two ways. First, just filling blank pages one after another, or using templated notebooks that will provide you with guidance throughout the process, allowing for a more organized style.
However, not everyone knows what they’re supposed to write about, especially when they’re just starting out. That’s where prompts come into play.
Essentially, journal prompts are questions aimed at inspiring you on what to write about. Some examples include:
- What are you grateful for today?
- What traits do you like about yourself?
- How do you picture yourself in 5 years?
There are also more specific prompts that focus on self-growth, new year, relationship reflection, etc. Once again, you can find plenty of resources online.
If you want to try out journaling for the first time without spending a buck, you’ll also find thousands of free templates you can download and fill up to see how it feels. These usually already contain prompts, so you just print one and away you go.
Before I wrap it up, let’s not forget that therapeutic journaling is the most effective if you make it a daily routine. During the day, we face many distractions. Maybe that’s why many create the habit of taking out their notebook first thing in the morning.
Alternatively, evening pages have gained a lot of popularity among night owls. Just like with different techniques, you have to find what’s best for you.
